The 9513 - Country Music Blog

In the liner notes for his new album, Marty Stuart beautifully describes a moving, virtually spiritual experience during Hurricane Katrina, when a train roared past where he stood, five miles outside of his southern boyhood home. “Every place I’ve ever been, most everything I’d ever done and seen seemed to have been ripped from inside of me and hauled off on a northbound, backwoods Mississippi ghost train.” It was his epiphany, when he knew that he was ready to write again, and “it was long past time to play some hard-hitting country music.” Thus was born the idea for his latest project, Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions, on Sugar Hill Records–his first on the label since Busy Bee Café in 1982. And with traditional country music teetering on the precipice of extinction, Stuart–ever the music preservationist–feels even more so that the timing of this record is right: “It’s the music I most cherish…It’s too precious to let slip away.”

RCA’s Studio B in Nashville is hallowed ground, where so many legendary country greats laid down their tracks over the years. Now a museum, Stuart got special permission to record in the room–with its sought-after sonic warmth–where he first recorded when he performed with Lester Flatts at age 13. Choosing to make his record there graces the project with an historical authenticity that could be found nowhere else. His respectful reverence for those musicians that went before him is apparent, yet Ghost Train is not a hopeless re-hash of the past. Stuart’s twang-less vocals, coupled with the album’s energy, give a contemporary edge to his take on tradition. He’s Manuel and Nudie suits, but his hairstyle is all modern–gelled and spiked.

Stuart’s band, The Fabulous Superlatives, and guest performers like steel player-extraordinaire Ralph Mooney, add authentic seasoning throughout, helping to make the album work as a whole, durable quilt, as opposed to mismatched swatches of fabric loosely stitched together. The broader statement made by the master of vintage sound is, “honor thy roots music.”

Of the 14 tracks, clearly more than half are stand-out confections. A cover of the classic, “Country Boy Rock & Roll” features priceless, high-speed picking by both Stuart and Kenny Vaughn. “Hummingbyrd” is an original Stuart instrumental tribute to guitarist Clarence White, where he performs on White’s own B-Bender guitar. The nearly acoustic “Hard Working Man” is underscored by a most topical lyric: “What will become of the working man/With honest sweat on his brow/Is the nation that raised him to build it/Gonna turn its back on him now.”

All the ballads are co-written by Stuart with wife Connie Smith, who thankfully joins him in the duet, “I Run to You,” produced with a string arrangement and a sweet, music-box guitar outro. A Red Sovine-style original recitation song by Stuart, “Porter Wagoner’s Grave,” is a piece of theatre, and songs like “Little Heartbreaker” glisten with Mooney’s silvery, steel guitar stylings.

A starkly, stunning piece is “Hangman.” There’s no fancy guitar work or shimmer of rhinestone glitz; it’s simply a restrained delivery and production, allowing Stuart’s vocal to have the spotlight, and telling the story of a prison executioner’s tortured soul. The fact that it’s co-written with Johnny Cash, and is the last song ever written by the Man in Black, who died four days later, just adds to the solemn importance of the piece. This co-write meeting was the last time Stuart saw his one-time father-in-law and friend. And he sings the lyric with the dignity of a last performance: “I killed another man today/It’s hard to believe/Well I lost count at thirty–and I’ve grown too numb to grieve/The bottle helps me cope when I lay down at night/And when the dope rolls through my veins it all fades out of sight.”

It’s conceivable that Stuart recorded a bunch more, and had a hard time culling the pack. Determined to have a little bit of everything in an album, he’s got it covered, from Bakersfield to the Delta, from classic covers to newly-penned material, from iconic themes about trains and prison to blue collar workers. One less ballad with the lyric phrase “hard to bear” could have been managed; but being the musicologist that he is, he strives to put in one record an honest slice of his own traditional country for the annals of American music history–and he delivers.

You may not have heard of Ola Belle Reed, but if you’ve listened to country or bluegrass music in the past couple of decades, you’ve likely heard her words sung by the likes of Del McCoury and Tim O’Brien.

Born Ola Wave Campbell in western North Carolina in 1916, she was one of 13 children. Music was in her blood: her father and his siblings played in a string band called The New River Boys and Girls, uncle Dockery Campbell taught her to play the banjo, and her grandfather–a fiddler and Primitive Baptist minister–almost certainly was another influence.

In the mid-1930s, the Campbells moved north to Chester County, Pennsylvania in search of work. It was here that Ola Belle started playing with the North Carolina Ridge Runners (a band that mostly performed in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) and began singing on local radio. 1951, the Campbells and Ola Belle’s new husband, Bud Reed, opened New River Ranch, a country music park in Maryland that hosted acts like Flatt & Scruggs and Hank Williams. Ola Belle and brother Alex were members of the New River Ranch’s house band; they opened for some of country’s biggest superstars, and there’s no telling how many budding musicians heard as they waited for the main event (the liner notes mention two: bluegrass big guns David Grisman and Bob Paisley, but considering the current strength of the DC-area bluegrass scene, there are definitely more).

A decade later, Ola Belle and Alex opened Campbell’s Corner, a country store in Pennsylvania that also served as home base for the family’s radio program of the same name. It was around this time that Ola Belle was “discovered” by renowned folklorist Henry Glassie, who fellow nerds might recall for his incredible study Passing the Time in Ballymenone. It was Glassie who recommended Reed to Ralph Rinzler, one of the founders of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which is held annually on the National Mall in DC. Reed and her family band first performed at the Festival in 1969, then again in ‘72 and ‘76.

Ola Belle Reed died in 2002, a day before her 86th birthday, but her musical legacy endures. Several of the 200+ songs she wrote in her life have been recorded by artists like Del McCoury, Hot Rize, and Crooked Still, to name just a few. “High on the Mountain,” the song which, according to her husband, she wrote at her mother’s grave, was turned into a #24 hit by Marty Stuart in 1993. There is an annual Ola Belle Reed Music Festival in her birthplace of Lansing, North Carolina. Past performers include Tim O’Brien, the late Mike Seeger, and, of course, Ollabelle, the band who took its name from the lady herself.

New Smithsonian Folkways album Rising Sun Melodies boasts eight previously unreleased Ola Belle tracks; all were recorded at the 1972 and 1976 Folklife Festivals. These performances include “Look Down That Lonesome Road” (which she introduces as her theme song), “Nine Pound Hammer,” and a stirring rendition of Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light”–well, stirring with a side of amusing as she peppers the gospel song with midsong instructions: “Let’s clap! Now get together!” The other songs range from 19th century ballad “Sweet Evalina” to the autobiographical “I’ve Endured,” which Reed wrote on her 50th birthday. As a whole, the album paints a picture of a woman of deep faith, good humor, and extraordinary talent.

With its superb song selection and lengthy, in-depth liner notes written by Jeff Place, archivist at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Rising Sun Melodies is the perfect place to start for those who are new to Ola Belle Reed. And longtime fans, well, they’re going to like this album too.

Taylor Swift’s polarizing sweep of last year’s CMA Awards won’t be repeated when the trophies are handed out on Wednesday, Nov. 10 in Nashville. The multi-format superstar has had a relatively quiet year as she prepares for the release of her third album, Speak Now, due on Oct. 25.

Swift’s four victories, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year award, represented a shift in the industry’s attentions towards the next generation. That trend continued at this spring’s ACM Awards, when 20-somethings Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood received the lion’s share of the spoils. This trio of young talent will likely emerge again at the CMAs.

If I were handling the CMA ballot, here’s how it would look when nominations are announced over the next two days, with expected winners in bold. An emphasis is placed on artists who released new music within the eligibility period (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010). The most notable absentee is Kenny Chesney, who took a brief hiatus from touring this year and had not released a studio album during the last twelve months.

Entertainer of the Year

Brad Paisley
Reba McEntire/George Strait
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
Zac Brown Band

Paisley’s sales numbers have dipped since his mid-decade peak, but with Kenny Chesney absent from the race, this is his best shot at snagging the trophy after six consecutive nominations. His extended streak of Top 2 singles at country radio is rivaled only by his fellow CMA co-host Underwood. This triple threat–singer, songwriter, musician–also continues to impress on the touring circuit and even earned an invite to the White House last year, evidence of his status as one of country music’s greatest ambassadors. Two veterans, McEntire and Strait, who defied Music Row’s emphasis on youth by co-headlining a successful tour to promote their latest gold-certified releases.

Predictions: Lady Antebellum, Paisley, Underwood, Urban, Zac Brown Band

Nominees: Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Zac Brown Band

Male Vocalist of the Year

Dierks Bentley
Alan Jackson
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Josh Turner

Paisley’s reign as the premier male vocalist in country music, unbroken since 2007, seems secure for one more year. On the strength of their latest albums, chalk up nominations for category stalwarts Strait (26) and Jackson (17). Bentley and Turner received their first nominations in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and this year’s successes prove that both have earned a second chance. Gary Allan, unfortunately, is overlooked again.

Predictions: Bentley, Paisley, Strait, Turner, Urban

Nominees: Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year

Rosanne Cash
Miranda Lambert
Patty Loveless
Reba McEntire
Carrie Underwood

Lambert, the likely belle of the ball this year, is the favorite for the first time in this category. McEntire made great strides commercially in 2010, and peers Patty Loveless and Rosanne Cash emerged with outstanding collections that honored country music’s past while pointing towards its future.

Predictions: Lambert, McBride, McEntire, Swift, Underwood

Nominees: Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood

Vocal Group of the Year

The Band Perry
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band

Lady Antebellum is vying for the title of best-selling album of 2010, and their stats are simply too large to ignore. Zac Brown Band is hot on their heels, and Little Big Town enjoyed a strong commercial comeback this year and remains the most artistically compelling in the bunch.

Predictions: The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts, Zac Brown Band

Nominees: The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts, Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year

Brooks & Dunn
Court Yard Hounds
Joey + Rory
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland

Brooks & Dunn will snag a retirement prize by winning this trophy for the fifteenth time. Montgomery Gentry has stalled at country radio, while the Court Yard Hounds have moved nearly 200,000 units since their eponymous album was released in May.

Predictions: Brooks & Dunn, Joey + Rory, Montgomery Gentry, Steel Magnolia, Sugarland

Nominees: Brooks & Dunn, Joey & Rory, Montgomery Gentry, Steel Magnolia, Sugarland

Single of the Year

“The House That Built Me,” Miranda Lambert
“I Keep on Loving You,” Reba McEntire
“Little White Church,” Little Big Town
“Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum
“‘Til Summer Comes Around,” Keith Urban

Predictions: “Highway 20 Ride,” The House That Built Me,” “Need You Now,” “Temporary Home,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance”

Nominees: “A Little More Country Than That,” “Hillbilly Bone,” “Need You Now,” “The House That Built Me,” “White Liar”

Song of the Year

“Fifteen,” Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift)
“Highway 20 Ride,” Zac Brown Band (Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette)
“The House That Built Me,” Miranda Lambert (Tom Douglas, Allen Shamblin)
“Welcome to the Future,” Brad Paisley (Brad Paisley, Chris Dubois)
“‘Til Summer Comes Around,” Keith Urban (Keith Urban, Monty Powell)

“The House That Built Me,” a four-week No. 1 single, is far out in front of the other contenders. Only Lady Antebellum’s crossover smash poses even the smallest challenge.

Predictions: “Highway 20 Ride,” The House That Built Me,” “Need You Now,” “Temporary Home,” “Why Don’t We Just Dance”

Nominees: “A Little More Country Than That,” “Need You Now,” “The House That Built Me,” “Toes,” “White Liar”

Album of the Year

The List, Rosanne Cash
Freight Train, Alan Jackson
Revolution, Miranda Lambert
Twang, George Strait
Up on the Ridge, Dierks Bentley

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was omitted from the list in 2007, but Lambert’s third album is nearing platinum and cemented her status as the strongest artist of her age group. Expect Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now, a patchy effort from Nashville’s newest superstars, to soar onto the official nominee list.

Predictions: Need You Now, Play On, Revolution, Twang, Up on the Ridge

Nominees: Need You Now, Play On, Revolution, Twang, Up on the Ridge

New Artist of the Year

The Band Perry
Laura Bell Bundy
Easton Corbin
Chris Young
Zac Brown Band

A pair of No. 1 singles–”Gettin’ You Home” and “The Man I Want to Be”–give Young the edge over his closest rival, Corbin. Bundy’s debut album is the most ambitious from the newcomers, and her opportunity may yet come. Zac Brown Band, who has zoomed into superstardom in less than two years, is the favorite if they receive a nomination in this odd category.

Predictions: The Band Perry, Bundy, Corbin, Young, Zac Brown Band

Nominees: Luke Bryan, Easton Corbin, Jerrod Niemann, Chris Young, Zac Brown Band

Vocal Event of the Year

“Bad Angel,” Dierks Bentley, Jamey Johnson & Miranda Lambert
“Blue Sky,” Emily West & Keith Urban
“Seeing Stars,” Jack Ingram & Patty Griffin
“‘Till the End,” Alan Jackson & Lee Ann Womack
“What Can I Say,” Carrie Underwood & Sons of Sylvia

Only two contenders–”Blue Sky” and “Seeing Stars”–received scattered airplay. ACM Award-winning “Hillbilly Bone” will land on the short list, but the Jackson/Womack duet might be hard for CMA voters to resist.

Predictions: “Bad Angel,” “Blue Sky,” “Hillbilly Bone,” “‘Til the End,” “What Can I Say”

Prediction: “Bad Angel,” “Can’t You See” (ZBB/Kid Rock), “Hillbilly Bone,” “I’m Alive,” “Till the End”

Music Video of the Year

“Fifteen,” Taylor Swift
“The House That Built Me,” Miranda Lambert
“Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum
“Swingin’,” Leann Rimes
“Welcome to the Future,” Brad Paisley

None of these videos is especially interesting, and the CMA often repeats the Single/Song category here. Lambert by a nose.

Predictions: “Fifteen,” The House That Built Me,” “Need You Now,” “Temporary Home,” “Welcome to the Future”

Nominees: “Hillbilly Bone,” “Need You Now,” “The House That Built Me,” “Water,” “White Liar”

Earlier this year, country singer Amber Digby teamed up with Justin Trevino to release a duet album brimming with old and soon-to-be classics. Titled Keeping Up Appearances, highlights include the Jack Greene-Jeannie Seely hit “Wish I Didn’t Have To Miss You,” Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty’s “Lead Me On” and “After The Fire Is Gone.”

In this interview with Paul W. Dennis, Mrs. Digby talks about collaborating with the multi-talented Trevino, her musical family, and her foray into songwriting.

Have you worked with Justin Trevino before this album?

Yes, Justin and I have been working together for a long time. I probably met him when I was about 17 and really dug what he was doing musically down here in Texas–sticking with the traditional country music. We hit it off right off the bat, he’s a tremendous talent, not just as a singer but as a producer. He suggested that I cut an album, and I did Music From The Honky Tonks. Things just kind of snowballed from there. We’ve done a lot of shows together over the years and I’ve done a lot of harmony work on his records and on records he’s produced for other artists. We decided several years ago to do a duet record but it took a few years to make that a reality, but we finally did.

I understand that you come from a very musical family, and have an aunt and an uncle who are quite active in the music business.

I do, my uncle is Darrell McCall and his wife is Mona. They both sing and play music and record for Heart of Texas records.

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• Kitty Wells turned 91 today!
• For the special premiere of her new video, Taylor Swift returned to the spot where it was shot in Kennebunkport, Maine.
  

  “We shot the video here,” she told the crowd who had gathered near the coastline. “It’s so important that we premiere it live from the place this video was shot. I’m so excited you guys are here to see it.”

  No explanation for its importance is given, but you can read the rest of her thoughts on the video and watch it on CMT’s website.

• The Tennessean’s Cindy Watts provided a brief recap of last night’s gala awards dinner where Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster, and Willie Nelson were honored with the Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award. Music Row’s Bobby Karl did too.
  

  “All the nice things people said about me, I almost gave myself a standing ovation,” quipped Nelson.

• Playing the Part: Jamey Johnson sans beard.
• The list of available country songs for the video game Rock Band will expand by nine tomorrow with the release of “Going Country Pack 04.”
• Watch behind the scenes footage from the filming of Miranda Lambert’s video “Only Prettier.”
• Chicago Tribunes‘ Bob Gendron thinks Rascal Flatts Saturday show at the United Center could have passed for a special episode of American Idol:
  

  Replete with vanilla music, flashy visuals, crass promotion, myriad cover tunes and scripted banter, the only thing missing was a judge to advise the wholesome country-pop group to deviate from delivering perfectly polished versions of songs for the sake of variation.

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On Burning the Day, their third major-label release, Randy Rogers Band continues to show confidence in their musicianship with this nice slice of Texas country. The five-piece band regularly performs more than 200 shows a year, and that serves them well on an album that usually centers on the open road and the often painful reasons why people explore it.

With Paul Worley as producer, Burning the Day has the sonic edge of the Lone Star State while offering enough mainstream sheen to agree with a larger audience. That style suits Randy Rogers’ weathered vocals just fine. He wrote or co-wrote eight of the eleven tracks, including the Dean Dillon co-write “Just Don’t Tell Me the Truth,” a despondent ballad of a man who’s desperate for one last stand with a fickle lover. “We both know that I’m your fool,” he growls, “Give me somethin’ I can buy into.” When he sings the punchy “I Met Lonely Tonight,” it’s clear that he’s reeling from the after effects of that affair. Its chorus is bright and shiny; the conflict involved is anything but.

To rid himself of those demons, he takes to the highway on slow-boiling songs like “Interstate” and “Damn the Rain.” And on the most traditional cut, “Missing You Is More Than I Can Do,” the urgent sound of Brady Black’s fiddle highlights the tension in Rogers’ delivery. While much of the album explores the interior life of a vagabond soul who’s rarely satisfied, current radio single “Too Late for Goodbye” turns the tables. In his gruff, near-unforgiving voice, Rogers drives the final nail into a love that’s died: “Must be strange to hear my voice saying don’t come back this time.” It sounds like he’s just as surprised.

Tuesday on the blog, Brody linked to a Boston Globe review of Brad Paisley’s H20 Tour currently making its way around the country.

The writer, Scott McLennan, highlighted some of the singer’s most popular songs and used the term “modern country classics” to describe them:

Paisley not only had the sonic blend right, but also stretched out more as a singer and songwriter. He could be funny without sounding like a yahoo and somber without coming across as maudlin. A quick wit has tuned “Alcohol,’’ “Ticks,’’ and “I’m Gonna Miss Her’’ into modern country classics, while his sincerity has done likewise for “Waitin’ on a Woman’’ and “She’s Everything.’’

While plenty of songs reach the top of the charts, not many are awarded the title of “classic.” Give us your take: What current songs do you consider to be “modern country classics”? What garners a song this title – is it chart success, a trailblazing subject matter, timely commentary or an undefinable “something else”?

Also, can a song be categorized as a classic before standing the test of time, or do songs with a certain “it factor” instantly emerge as classics?

• Ford the third year in a row Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host the CMA Awards. The ceremony is set to take place in Nashville on Nov. 10.
• Taylor Swift is scheduled to premiere the music video for her current single, “Mine,” tonight at 8 PM ET.
• Dale Watson may not have a million fans, but in an interview with The Boot’s Vernell Hackett he guesses there’s an easy quarter million people who like his music, and with his new record, Carryin’ On, he hopes that number grows and makes people aware there’s other options for country music besides what’s heard on the radio.
• Take note, American Songwriter’s Evan Schlansky gave Marty Stuart the perfect opportunity to lambaste modern country music — and he didn’t do it.
  

  What are your feelings on modern country music? Are you a fan?
  Of certain people and certain songs, and I absolutely encourage modern country music, trust me. I totally know that there aren’t a lot of people out there that think the way I do about some things, but we need modern country music as much as we need traditional country music. It’s a balance, and we need bluegrass, and folk music. We need all those divisions of country music, firing on all cylinders. That’s what makes country music so cool to me, but traditional country music kind of got out of balance and it’s starting to fade so it can be disregarded, and that felt wrong to me. So that’s why I followed my heart and did what I did, but absolutely we need young people performing, singing, playing their version. That’s what always made it great.

• Zac Brown and his wife are expecting the arrival of their fourth daughter early next year.
• My Kind of Country: Who are some of the artists whose catalogs you feel you need to examine more closely?
• Tim Stafford, who recently released a new album with Steve Gulley (Amazon), announced his engagement to Alecia Nugent.
• Speaking of Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley, The Bluegrass Blog’s John Lawless reviewed and provided song samples from their new album, Dogwood Winter, which he calls “one of the most compelling records in bluegrass/acoustic music this past few years.”
• Saving Country Music reviewed Willis Alan Ramsey’s recent concert in Dallas where he played for nearly three hours despite having only one album to his name, and that was released almost 40 years ago.
• The Inspirational Country Music Awards announced it’s 2010 nominees.
• Jeff Daniels on being an actor who plays music:
  

  Daniels jokes that as an actor with a guitar, “the expectations are so low, I have nowhere to go but up,” [...].

  “I’ll never be a guitar-slinger like Nashville’s loaded with, but I can get around, and it’s not just three chords,” he says. “I’ve worked real hard at the fingerpicking and being able to play up and down the neck, as well as tell stories, and write songs that can stand up.”

• Farce the Music: Top 10 Songs That Didn’t Quite Make the Cut for John Rich’s Next Album
• The Randy Rogers Band is offering a download of “Interstate” in exchange for your email address.

There’s a new bluegrass album titled Homecoming from Joe Diffie being released in the coming weeks with a song on it called “Route 5 Box 109.” It’s one of the true musical treasures of 2010. Without being too general and without dropping down to the lowest common redneck denominator, Diffie presents a beautiful and touching remembrance of home and yesteryear.

It seemed only natural to tie in a cool Friday Five that related back to The 9513. You see, this site is also named after a street address. It happens to be the street address of the grandmother of our site founders, Brady & Brody Vercher.

It’s not anything profound and it isn’t even related to country music. It was simply the address of our grandma’s home. Our home. It was a place where you were always welcome. A place to go to get fed if you were hungry or to talk if you were lonely.

Streets addresses often have a strong attraction for the songwriter. Nearly all of us have memories of the roads we grew up on, the street our school was located or the place where our first apartment was. Today, we celebrate Mattie Jean Gravenor Vercher–known as Gran to the Verchers. I may not have ever met the lady, but each one of us celebrates her legacy every day we come to The 9513.

• 5. “1432 Franklin Pike Circle Hero” – Bobby Russell

  Russell may be known better for being the writer behind the hit, “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” but he’s done a beautiful job celebrating the working dad on this track from 1968.

  He’s the 1432 Franklin Pike Circle hero
  And you can see him every weekend with a carful of kids and sno-cones
  The people ‘cross town don’t know his name but on Franklin Pike Circle he’s king
  The 1432 Franklin Pike Circle hero…

• 4. “Right or Left at Oak Street” – Roy Clark

  Clark sings about an average guy who has found himself in the doldrums of every day life and on this trip to work, he stops at the intersection of Oak Street where he has a choice to make. Right takes him to work and keeps him in the same rut and left represents freedom. It’s a great battle of obligation vs. independence.

  I’m not sure which way is the best way
  But I’ve always turned right before
  And it might be strange at the end of the day
  If they weren’t there at the door

  A man must make his decisions
  But he must consider the stakes
  For every man’s life is a gamble
  It depends on the turn that he takes

• 3. “727 East Magnolia Avenue” – Kenny Rogers

  The great bearded one sings another tale of remembrance written by Steven Dale Jones and Bobby Tomberlin. This beautiful ballad tells a wistful story of pulling up to a former home where a man and a wife shared a life and special memories. It also reminds us that the life of a home goes on after we’re gone.

• 2. “16th Avenue” – Lacy J. Dalton

  A Top Ten country hit back in 1982, Dalton shares the perils and paradoxes of Music Row in Nashville. Lives are changed–positively and negatively–every single day on that one street.

  With a million dollar spirit
  And an old flattop guitar
  They drive to town with all they own
  In a hundred dollar car

• 1. “127 Rose Avenue” – Hank Williams, Jr.

  “127 Rose Avenue” shares a couple of special meanings for Bocephus. It’s not only the title of his most recent Curb Records album, but also the address of his legendary dad’s home, which has been turned into a museum. There’s a blend of sadness and wonder as he recalls a visit to the address.

• On Wednesday morning, Little Jimmy Dickens and Brad Paisley were on hand to help return the famed six-foot circle to the center of the Opry House stage. The circle, cut from the original stage at the Ryman Auditorium, was damaged with the floods back in May, but not so much that it couldn’t be repaired. Now that it’s back in place, the Opry House is set to reopen ahead of schedule on Sept. 28.
• Country singer Doug Stone was arrested in Gallatin, Tennessee early Tuesday morning and charged with driving under the influence.
• Michael McCall recapped Buddy Miller’s final artist-in-residence show at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, which featured appearances from Jim Lauderdale and Shawn Colvin.
  

  By inviting two of his longest-running musical partners, Miller called attention to how profoundly the importance of musical collaboration has been to his career. He and Lauderdale first met in New York City, where Miller had moved from Texas with his wife, Julie Miller. Colvin and Miller go back even further, to the 1970s in Austin. Colvin followed her friends to New York, where they played together in a band.

  Be sure to click through to watch performances of “Hole In My Head” and “Let It Be Me.”

• Hear Ya is giving away a copy of Ryan Bingham’s new album, Junky Star.
• Download it: On the closer to his new album, Dale Watson sings from the point of view of an old country song, “Hello, I’m an old country song / I ain’t been around in a while / But it ain’t like I’ve really been gone / I’m more like an old suit that’s just gone out of style.“

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